In the mid-19th century, "Boston Town" was a New England township that had changed little since its role in the Revolutionary War. But between 1850 and 1900, Boston underwent a stunning metamorphosis to emerge as one of the world's great metropolises—one that achieved national and international prominence in politics, medicine, education, science, social activism, literature, commerce, and transportation. Stephen Puleo chronicles a remarkable era in this page-turning history ("It's been quite a while since I've read anything—fiction or nonfiction—so enthralling," noted Dennis Lehane). He encompasses Boston's abolitionist fervor before the Civil War, the massive influx of Irish immigrants, the filling of the Back Bay and annexation of surrounding towns like Cambridge, the rebuilding after the Great Fire of 1872, and the opening of America's first subway station.

"No period in Boston's history was more dynamic than the second half of the 19th century, writes Puleo in this smoothly narrated account of that time and place. Through the determination of the abolitionists, the empire-building of the city's merchants, the dogged endurance of the impoverished Irish immigrants, the city was propelled into ever greater significance. All segments of Boston society rallied to the Union during the Civil War, and the story of the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment and the defense of Washington, D.C., is particularly dramatic. Boston became the hub of the nation's railway system, turned the stagnant waters of the Back Bay into a prosperous residential center, and built the first American subway. After the Civil War, thousands of new immigrants, most especially the Italians, arrived to become a vibrant part of the urban community, and despite tensions and disasters, Boston emerged as one of the world's leading cities."—Publishers Weekly